Trademark protection has four levels: common law, local, national, and international. Entrepreneurs should be aware of the complexities involved in developing intangible property rights. The best advice for securing and protecting a trademark involves use, communication, official registration, and conservation over time. Registering a trademark nationally is the most important tip for trademark protection. International registration is the most advanced level of trademark protection. Use the brand in as large a geographical area as possible as soon as possible by using it on the Internet.
There are four levels of trademark protection a company can provide for its text, logos, and other symbols that uniquely identify its products: common law, local, national, and international. As an entrepreneur advances his trademark rights from the most basic to the most advanced level, he must be aware of the complexities inherent in the development of intangible property rights. The best advice for securing and protecting a trademark at all levels concerns use, communication, official registration and conservation over time.
Common law trademark protection provides the proprietor of a trademark that uniquely identifies products with automatic rights to the trademark as soon as it is used in commerce. Intangible property rights are sometimes difficult to prove and expensive to defend. If an entrepreneur relies solely on the common law for trademark protection, he should ensure that he retains incontrovertible proof of the first use of the trademark in trade.
Some countries allow trademark protection locally. For example, US states allow companies to register a trademark with the office of the secretary of state. This registration protects trademark rights in the state. At this level, the best way to protect a state brand and ensure that rights are expandable as the business grows is to ensure that the brand is unique, not only locally but also nationally by searching all available databases any other brand that closely resembles it.
The most important tip for trademark protection is to register your trademark nationally. All countries offer national trademark registration. In the United States, for example, the United States Patent and Trademark Office grants national trademark rights. Registration facilitates the prosecution of infringement and, in many cases, provides for the compensation of statutory damages so that the trademark owner is not burdened with having to prove that the actual damage was caused by the infringement.
The international registration of a trademark is the most advanced trademark protection available and can be secured together with the national registration if the country of origin is a party to international trademark treaties. To prepare a trademark for any type of registration, including international registration, ensure that the trademark is distinct and does not present a risk of confusion with any other world trademark. The less generic and imaginative the trademark, the easier it will be to register and defend it.
Use the brand in as large a geographical area as possible as soon as possible by using it on the Internet. Trademark protection is implicitly limited by the underlying rule that trademark rights extend geographically only until the goods have actually arrived on the market. Communicate trademark rights using the symbol for unregistered trademarks and ® for registered trademarks. Finally, preserve your trademark rights by regularly using the trademark in commerce, periodically checking for infringement, and defending your trademark against infringement.
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